Why does Russia need a consulate in Khankendi? Comment from Baku
Russian consulate in Khankendi
Russia aims to open a general consulate in Khankendi as early as 2024. This was stated by Grigory Karasin, the head of the International Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of Russia, during a meeting with Samed Seyidov, the chairman of the Committee on International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations of the Azerbaijani Parliament.
According to Karasin, this move “will allow us to eliminate the disparity in mutual consular presence”.
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At present, Russia is represented diplomatically in Azerbaijan only by its embassy in Baku. There are no Russian consulates in other cities of the country.
On the other hand, Azerbaijan has three consular offices in the Russian Federation – in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg.
The Azerbaijani edition of JAMnews reached out to political analyst Haji Namazov for comment on this matter.
According to the expert, there is no need for a Russian consulate in Karabakh:
“There are no Russian citizens in Karabakh. The desire of the Russian side can only be interpreted as Russia’s unwillingness to lose its position in this part of Azerbaijan after withdrawing its peacekeeping forces from there. Does Azerbaijan need this? That’s the question. I think it does not.
For the past 30-plus years, Russia has been engaged in behind-the-scenes struggle with Turkey for influence in Azerbaijan. But it has completely lost this battle. And it’s not just about diplomatic presence.
Look at it: Turkey has three consular offices in Azerbaijan, located in Baku, Ganja, and Nakhchivan. This makes perfect sense since there are Turkish citizens living and working in Azerbaijan who need to resolve their document-related issues. Ganja is situated in the western part of the country, so having a consulate there is justified from a logistical standpoint. Nakhchivan currently lacks direct overland connection with the rest of the country, so having a separate consulate there makes sense.
Turkey and Azerbaijan have already agreed to open a consulate general in Shusha, which will greatly facilitate the lives of Turkish citizens engaged in the reconstruction efforts in the liberated territories. It’s no secret that Turkish companies are heavily involved in projects in Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur.
It may seem like Russia’s involvement is irrelevant here. There is a visa-free regime between the two countries, meaning that Russian citizens do not need a Russian embassy in Azerbaijan. There are very few Russian citizens in the country, and they can easily address their issues through the consular department of the embassy in Baku. But in Karabakh, there are virtually none.
Even if a consulate were to be opened in Khankendi, the staff of this institution would simply be idle most of the time.
Another important detail needs to be mentioned here regarding the presence of soft power in the country.
Russia has work to do in Azerbaijan in this regard. Yes, there are many schools and universities in the country that provide education in Russian.
At first glance, it may seem that Russia doesn’t need to do much in this regard. Parents willingly enroll their children in Russian-language schools, and sometimes there’s even a shortage of space because there’s a real lack of Russian-speaking teaching staff lately.
But all of this is at the state level, managed and controlled by the Azerbaijani government. There are no Russian schools or lyceums here. But there are plenty of Turkish ones.
Russian consulate in Khankendi
This resonates with the sentiments in Azerbaijani society, as there exists a noticeable contrast in attitudes towards Russia and Turkey. While feelings towards Russia may not be as favorable, there’s a strong affinity towards Turkey. And this perception is widely recognized.
